Nuit des morts-vivants de Degrassi
by EndoftheWorlds
Summary: A devastating zombie apocalypse hits Canada and spreads throughout the Americas. A group of friends must now find a way off the continents. However, something far more out there and weirder than a virus that resurrects is waiting for them. Slash. Rated M for cussin', violence, and gore.
1. Siren

**Alrighty then. This is a story I've been wanting to put out there for quite some time now, years in fact. It's largely inspired by a story that used to be here on the Pit, but got taken down.**

**DISCLAIMER: "_Degrassi"_ is the property of Epitome Pictures and Bell Media. "_Left 4 Dead"_ is the property of Turtle Rock Studios and Valve Corporation. No copyright infringement is intended and no profit is being made from this fan work.**

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><p>Henry Moon was bored. He was in detention on a Friday when he should already be out with his friends and his boyfriend. He had gotten in detention for throwing a fat, hardback copy of a math textbook at a jerk, Owen specifically. Though he was bored and the teacher present forbade him from reading his current book (the fifth time re-reading <em>Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince<em>), he didn't regret his actions. The homophobic bully had asked for it, and now he'd have a broken nose to show for it.

He glanced at the clock; half an hour to go. It was hot, the beginning of May. The teacher present had his face buried in a newspaper. Henry glared at the newspaper in irritation. He needed a cigarette badly, a need that was not helped at all by the dead silence. Henry hated being alone and the silence; it left too much room for his thoughts.

Luck seemed to favor Henry, however, when there was a loud, abrupt mumbling from the teacher's walkie-talkie, which caused Henry to jump in surprise. The teacher muttered something back and then took off, telling Henry to keep his butt planted in the desk. Henry sighed in relief; he felt like throwing a chair through the window. He quickly strode over to the window and pushed it open. He sat on the windowsill and reached into his back pocket, pulling out his pack of cigarettes and lighter. He lit one off and took a long drag on it. As the nicotine flooded through him, he felt his nerves being settled down, the negative thoughts being settled down. He sat there for a couple of more minutes, making sure to finish the cigarette off quickly; he didn't expect the teacher to be gone long. He imagined for a second what Peter's expression if he saw him smoking. Although his boyfriend had mostly gotten used to Henry's smoking, there was always at least a flicker of disapproval that flitted across Peter's handsome face whenever Henry began to smoke.

Running a hand through his spiky, dark brown hair, he ground out the finished cigarette and tossed it out the window, feeling a slight amount of guilt about the littering, but reasoned that the teacher would find the cigarette in the trash. When Henry walked back to his desk and sat down, he felt himself nodding off. Insomnia be damned, he had not gotten much sleep last night, though on some level he almost always wanted to sleep. _'Eh, what the hell?'_ he thought to himself. He got out his phone and set the alarm for 4:00 PM, half an hour later. He placed his face on the desk and fell quickly off to sleep.

Henry woke with a start. He had been having a somewhat familiar nightmare, but that wasn't important. He could immediately tell something was wrong, for it was dark outside. He glanced at the clock. 6:45 PM! He was angry now. The teacher was supposed to release him at four! And why hadn't his phone gone off?! He pulled out his phone and glanced at it; it had been on silent, of course. Well that explained that. He growled in irritation. What about janitors or something?

He stepped outside into the dimly lit hallway, and of course there was no one there. What kind of sick freak would actually want to hang around in this godforsaken place for hours?

He walked around the corner when he was met with a horrible sight: A dead teacher, ripped into multiple pieces, his glassy eyes staring wide open in horror, his limbs separated and several organs laying scattered around. There was a ridiculous amount of blood spattered on the walls all around the dead man.

Henry fought back revulsion, covering his mouth with his hand and forcing back tears. He forced back unpleasant memories from his mind. Oh god! This was nothing like in the movies and the video games. Nothing had prepared him for the smell, the sound of the flies buzzing, the utterly real caked and blackened blood.

He immediately pulled out his cell phone, only to find that there were zero bars. "What the fuck?!" he said, making sure to keep his voice down. He had always been able to find service! "Come on!" he practically cried as he dialed nine-one-one. It was no use; there wasn't even a dial tone.

That's when a horrible noise made his blood run cold. It was low and savage, like an animal's growl, only more horrible and guttural. He turned his brown eyes in the direction of the noise, and was met with a sight even more horrible than the first: a person, with putrid skin, and parts of its skin were hanging off. It was stooped low over a dead body, tearing off chunks of the corpse with its teeth.

_"__A zombie?!"_ Henry thought. What the hell was this?! How was this even possible! Okay, he had to get a grip on himself. Zombies are real apparently; get over it. Henry turned towards the stairs; he had to get out of the thing's line of sight. He jumped down to the landing, jumping over the blood-soaked stairs, landing silently like a cat. He was silently thankful for being on the track team for the first three years of his high school career. But there, he was met with an even more horrible sight: Three more zombies, also crouched low over a dead body. _"Fuck my life!"_ Henry thought. They were right in front of the exit to where Henry had parked! He heard a noise above him. Had the other zombie seen him? No, it was talking.

"Come on, we have to go!" a girl whispered frantically. Henry slipped into the shadow of the stairs in case the zombies were disturbed. She and a guy stopped at the top of the staircase. It was a short girl with reddish-blonde hair: Holly J., the school's alpha female, and a tall burly guy: Owen, the school's alpha jock. Henry saw with some satisfaction that his nose was still clearly hurt. "Oh shit!" Holly J. said miserably.

"They're down here too!" Owen swore under his breath.

The zombies jerked for a moment but continued devouring the corpse. Henry realized that none of them were going anywhere as long as the zombies were in front of the door. He thought for a moment. You always killed zombies by damaging the brain or decapitation, unless you're in _Harry Potter_, in which case you need fire, or _Final Fantasy Tactics_, in which you need healing magic. But he was just going to have to hope that these zombies were like the ones in the movies. He motioned towards Owen and Holly J.

"Fag-I mean, Henry, is that you?" Owen asked. Henry ignored the almost insult.

"Hey you two," Henry began. "I'm about to buy us some time. When I give the word, run for the doors; my car is outside." They both nodded.

Henry reached inside of his pocket and grabbed a long, sharpened pencil. He crept towards the nearest zombie and jump onto its back. With all his strength, he rammed the long thin piece of wood into the screaming zombie's eye-socket and pushed. The zombie stopped screaming and fell to the ground. The other zombies stared stupidly at their dead fellow for just a second. "Now!" Henry screamed. He ran towards the doors with all his speed, the zombies' screams of rage and frustration ringing loudly in his ears, the other teens following him by only a few feet.

He pushed the doors open and ran towards his nearby, black car. Before he reached it he pulled out his keys and pushed the button to unlock the doors. He yanked the driver's door open and jumped in, slamming and locking the door behind him. Holly J. was right behind him, jumping in the passenger seat. Owen ran to the right backseat and hesitated. A female zombie tackled him to the ground and though he tried to throw her off, the rest of the horde caught up with her and began to devour him. He screamed in pain as limbs were pulled from their sockets and the zombies began gnawing at their flesh.

Holly J. screamed but Henry threw the car into reverse and began driving out of the parking lot, some zombies still chasing after them. Now that they were in relative safety, Henry noticed something: these zombies were fast. They were not the slow, stupid plodding things of classic movies. These monsters had chased them down at top speed. Why oh why couldn't it have been a classic apocalypse. Holly J.'s sobs broke his attention.

"They got Declan!" she cried hysterically. "And Anya and Danny and Clare! Everyone's dead!"

"They didn't get us," Henry said in response. He pulled out his cell phone and tried to call Peter again, hoping against hope that his blond beloved was still alive.


	2. I'll Kill You

"What the hell is going on?" Holly J. asked quietly. The question seemed more directed at herself than Henry. Her eyes had been glued to the zombie-infested town throughout the entire car ride. She stared with horror as the monsters drooled and stared after them as they zipped by. Some of them gave chase but soon gave up once they realized their target was moving much too fast to catch up to.

"Wish I knew," Henry replied. He tried dialing Peter's number once more. The blond hadn't picked up his phone the last two times he'd called; he actually prayed this time would be different.

"Henry!" a familiar male voice exclaimed happily though the phone. "You're alive! I was so worried!"

Henry smiled at the comforting sound of his boyfriend's voice. Although the city had gone to Hell, everything seemed a bit better with the knowledge that the blue-eyed male was still alive somewhere in it. "I'm fine. Holly J. is with me."

Peter was quiet a moment. "Holly J.?" he asked. "Wow, I'm kind of impressed."

"Tell him I can hear him," the girl in the passenger's seat said.

"Where are you?" Henry asked with a roll of his eyes.

"I'm at your house. I came to get you once I'd heard about the infection but you weren't there," the blond explained.

"Meet us at the gun store downtown. We're going to stock up and head for a less zombified town." He hung up the phone before when they said their "I love yous" and continued speeding through the blood-splattered streets toward their destination. It wasn't long before they arrived at a lightless store Holly J. had never seen before.

"I'm not getting out of this car," the female stated firmly. "And if you were smart you wouldn't either."

Henry rolled his eyes once more and opened his door. "Stay, then, whatever. Just make your diva ass useful and find a broadcast about this zombie mess on the radio." He slammed the door behind him and opened the trunk of the car. Books, CDs, and various wires fell to the ground as he threw the contents of the storage space out. He dumped his books out of his bag as well before turning to the cracked window of the store. Several kicks were all that was needed to shatter the glass. It rained down around the store as he stepped inside and grabbed armfuls of weapons, placed them into the trunk, and repeated the process. He loaded the storage space half-full with guns and filled the remaining half, as well as his backpack, with ammunition. He was ready to leave when a noise from the back room of the store startled him.

_"If that's a zombie,"_ he whispered to himself, _"then it's too late to run."_ The pistols at his sides journeyed from their holsters to his hands. Henry silently crept towards the door between the store's front and back and nudged it open slowly and carefully. Just as he'd expected a hunched-over figure came into view in the dim light of the shop. He cocked his guns when, all of a sudden, the figure spoke.

"Don't shoot!" it exclaimed. Max recognized the voice right away. His suspicions were confirmed once the person had stood. Spinner's burly figure met him. "Henry?"

Henry nodded and returned his guns to their holsters. "Spinner! God, I'm glad to see you!" the brunet exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"Same thing you are," the man replied, drawing closer. "I came to get weapons so I could fight those fucking zombie things. I ran back and hid when I heard the glass break because I thought it was one of them who'd seen me."

That was explanation enough for Henry. He glanced all over the man's body for any sign of infection and, satisfied at the lack of one, began walking back to the car. "Come with us. We're getting the hell out of here, too."

"Us?" Spinner asked. His eyes lit up with joy as they met with Holly J.'s. The redhead returned the expression when she saw him "Holly J.! You're safe!" He pulled the girl into a tight hug. "I just KNEW you'd make it! Have you seen Jane?"

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Spin," Holly J. said sadly. "She… She died trying to distract them from me…"

Spinner looked like he was about to lose it for a second, but a moment later he recovered himself. "Well…" He began. "I honestly can't say that I wasn't afraid of that… You said she died trying to help you?"

Holly J. hugged him more tightly and nodded, tears in her eyes.

"At least she went out like a hero," Henry said, tentatively rubbing Spinner's shoulder. Spinner hugged his female friend tightly and took a deep, shuddering breath and looked calm once again.

"Okay, I can cry later," he said with new strength. "Is there anyone else alive?"

Henry nodded. "Peter's on his way. As far as I know we're the only four who made it away alive."

"Look what I found," Spinner said. He led them back into the gun store and behind the counter towards a safe. Spinner pried the safe opened to reveal two sub-automatic rifles.

"But those are supposed to be illegal!" Henry said happily.

"They are, but who gives a fuck now!" Spinner said, grabbing the two guns. They walked back to the car. Henry slung the rifle onto his back and they all picked out pistols (Henry had dual pistols) and their big gun of choice. Henry also had a knife that he had found.

Henry had been ready to continue speaking before a horrible noise behind the trio distracted him. He turned to see Peter's blue Porsche heading in their direction, a swarm of zombies running right behind it. "Oh, fuck!" he swore. "You guys, get in the car and drive! Head north!"

Holly J. and Spinner nodded in understanding. Spinner jumped into the driver's seat and waited for the female to join him inside. Henry grabbed the other assault rifle from the trunk, slammed it, and watched as the pair shot off down the street as fast as the car would allow.

Peter sped up once Henry was within his sight. He threw open the passenger's side door for him and helped him inside as quickly as he could. "You have no idea how glad I am to see you!" the blond said once he'd caught up behind the car in front of them. "I was so afraid you'd-"

"Yeah, yeah, I was worried about you too," the smaller, Asian male said hurriedly as he loaded one of the rifles. The sunroof came open at the press of a button and ten seconds later his upper body was outside of it, legs standing on the armrest between the passenger's and driver's side of the front seat. Shots rang out as he fired into the approaching horde of creatures and a satisfied smile crossed his lips at the sight of the zombies dropped dead in clusters. The boy sat back down inside the car and placed a gentle kiss on his boyfriend's cheek. "I'm really glad you made it."

Henry moaned softly at the feeling but pulled away before he could get too into it. There was no time for affection during the middle of an escape from a zombie apocalypse.

"Jesus Christ!" Peter yelled suddenly; Henry's eyes widened in shock.

"What?! What is it?!" He followed Peter's gaze to the rear view mirror and gasped with surprise at what he saw. Behind them was a zombie as tall as an SUV and every bit as fast. Large muscles bulged down its arms and chest making his size look even more fearsome. He ran about a hundred yards behind the car and seemed to be gaining on them quickly. "Oh, fuck me," Henry groaned. "A fucking bodybuilder zombie. Great." Back through the sunroof he went, the rifle in his hands firing relentlessly at the beast. His shots did little but cause it to stagger a step back in pain, growl in anger, and continue its advance directly towards them. He reloaded the ammunition clip in the rifle and ducked as he heard shots behind him. He turned around and was greeted with the sight of Holly J. standing through the sunroof of the car as well, a large sniper rifle in her hands. "Aim for the head!" the spiky-haired male advised her. "Anywhere else and we're just wasting ammo!" He squatted down so his full body was in the speeding vehicle beneath him once more and turned to his fearful-looking boyfriend. "Get alongside them. Holly J.'s going to help and I don't trust her not to take my head off behind me like that." Once Peter had obliged he stood up once more and continued firing on the over-sized behemoth. He made sure to unload his bullets into the monster's head and only there. Holly J. seemed to have gotten the hang of the gun she was using. The majority of her shots would blow away pieces of the zombie's head and Max made sure to chip away at the rest of its skull with rapid firing. After what seemed like forever, the zombie let out a dying scream of rage and fell to the ground with a heavy thud. The brown-eyed boy dropped back into the car, closed the sunroof, and lit a cigarette to steady his shaking hands.


	3. Silent Scream

Henry was the first to see it: An empty car parked right outside of a factory. They had been driving for an hour before coming across an empty which was parked right outside of a factory. The car's doors were firmly shut.

They all parked beside the car and converged to talk to each other. "You guys! Listen! There's a signal!" Spinner said. Everyone was quiet for a moment and then a second later a static-ridden voice sounded out from the radio. Everyone anxiously awaited the transmission.

"It had been confirmed that all of Canada has now been overrun by the infestation. It is quickly moving across North America and into South America as well. It is thought that by tomorrow the infestation will have overrun both continents. France has stationed some troops in Quebec. The French troops have asked that all survivors head towards the emergency shelter. To everyone out there, get here as fast as you possibly can. The troops will be pulling out of the country and heading back to France tomorrow at midnight. Good luck to you all."

They were all silent for a moment in order to let the news wash over them. Henry was the first to break the silence. "So how do we get to Quebec?" he asked. No one answered him. Henry scoffed in exasperation. "You people are from Canada and you don't even know where Quebec is?!"

"Well you're from America. Where's Michigan?" Holly J. retorted. "Just because we've lived in this country our whole life doesn't mean that we know how to get to Quebec." Henry opened his mouth in order to snap back at her, but Spinner interrupted.

"Stop arguing you two! Getting pissy isn't going to make this any better," he said, staring hard at the two of them. Both Henry and Holly J. calmed down.

"Okay then," Henry began. "We need to find a road map. Our best bet is to search there." He pointed towards the darkened factory.

Holly J.'s eyes widened. "You want me to go in there?! No way! I'm not going into a darkened factory where a ton of zombies could be waiting for us." She crossed her arms firmly and said, "No way."

Henry bit back his words. Holly J.'s bitchiness greatly annoyed him but Spinner was right; arguing wasn't going to solve anything. He began to walk towards the factory. He heard footsteps behind him; he turned around to see which person had followed him when he was met with a horrible sight: a male zombie, its eyes completely white without pupils or irises, just like the rest of them. Its skin had small lacerations all over it. It opened its mouth to give out its guttural roar, and exposed blackened teeth. "Oh shit!" Henry yelled. He reached for one of his pistols as the creature ran towards him. He had not yet completely pulled his gun out whenever the creature reached him. Henry jumped aside and the creature crashed through the glass door, shattering it. The creature stood up but then immediately fell back down, dead. Henry took a closer look at it; there was a huge piece of glass sticking from its temple. In order to make sure it was dead, Henry shot it once between the eyes.

He turned back to the others, who were all running towards him. "Henry!" Peter said. "You can't just run off like that! You could seriously get hu-!"

"Thanks for the concern Peter, "Henry began. "But I'm fine, really."

With that, he turned back to the factory and walked inside. The rooms inside were barren and empty without even a trace of furniture to adorn them. The three proceeded through the rooms until arriving at a forked hallway. Both paths looked alike, however it seemed as if they led to entirely different parts of the building.

"What do we do?" Holly J. asked. "Where do we go? Left or right?"

"How about we split up?" Spinner proposed. "You and I will go left, Henry and Peter can go right."

"What?! No! What if we run into the infected? We'd both be done for! We need to stay together," replied the girl quickly.

An annoyed sigh fell from Henry's lips. "We'd be dead either way if the group was as big as you're worried about. Spinner's right, we need to split up and go different directions; if you need help then just call."

That was it; the discussion was over. Holly J. knew she'd been outvoted. Henry had sided with Spinner and there was no doubt in her mind that Peter would agree with the two of them. "Fine," she growled. "But don't say I didn't warn you if you get ripped apart by one of those monsters."

"Don't worry; I'm taking the lead," the brown haired boy replied, "So stay behind me."

Holly J. and Peter stared at the boy in shock. "With you?" the female asked.

"That's what I said, yes," Henry said. "Why, do you want to go with Peter?"

Peter spoke before she could reply. "Henry," he began, still staring, "did I do something? Why don't you want to go with me?"

Henry sighed and shook his head at his boyfriend. "I just think it would be best if we didn't go together. If I went with you then I'd be spending all my time watching over you and making sure nothing would hurt you. And I'm sure you'd be watching out for me, too. But who would deal with the ones we didn't notice?" He took a step forward and rested a hand on the blond's chest reassuringly. "It's a matter of strategy. I stay ahead and kill everything I see. Holly J. stays back and snipes the things I don't. Alright?"

"Yeah, all right." The boy placed a hand over the one on his chest and smiled softly. "Just come back to me in one piece." He leaned down a bit and kissed Henry gently.

"I hate to break up your little homosexual love fest, but are we just going to stand around and wait for the zombies to come to us?" Holly J. asked after a few moments.

The shortest of the three males stepped back from his boyfriend and pulled his pistols from their holsters. "You two take care of yourselves. There were four of us when we got here, let's leave here with the same amount." Spinner and Peter nodded in agreement, and once the other two had gone, Henry and Holly J. proceeded up their hallway.

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><p>"Holy shit!" Was all Holly J. could think to say when they came across the sight that awaited them. They had been walking for ten minutes before reaching a room with light, which illuminated a sight neither of the pair could believe. About fifty zombies lay dead, some of them with bleeding holes in them, but most looked as if they had been sliced apart.<p>

"What could've done such a thing?" Holly J. asked in bewilderment.

"I don't know," Henry began. "But it's probably best that we don't wait around to see what did this. Come on, let's keep moving." Holly J. nodded and followed Henry.

They moved up the stairs to a landing that was equally as grim and just as bloody. They noticed a set of crimson-hued, liquid footprints. "Spinner and Peter must be here," Henry said, but with some uncertainty.

"Maybe," Holly J. said with equal uncertainty. "Maybe this is where both hallways lead."

He noticed that there were some boxes and crates from across the room. Henry led Holly J. over to them and arranged them so that they would hide her. She climbed into the space with her sniper rifle. "Hide here," Henry said. "If the shit hits the fan, call Spinner on the walkie talkie and have them come get you."

Holly J. nodded and made a small gap in the boxes so that her sniper rifle could follow. Henry walked on, comforted in the knowledge that he had sniper backup.

The bloody footprints led towards a large office with light streaming out of it. Drawing his handgun, Henry silently stepped inside of it and noticed that a dead pair of infected slumped against the right wall, blood seeping out of holes in their head. A very tall, very burly man stood bent over one of the filing cabinets. He pointed his gun at the burly man and waited for him to turn around. A mixture of rage and fear filled him whenever the man turned around. "YOU?!" Henry roared. "YOU survived?! Goddammit why couldn't you have died along with the rest of the school!" NO! Why did he have to meet _him_ here?! A zombie apocalypse happens and he comes face to face with the person who nearly destroyed him.

The man widened his light blue eyes in surprise. "Take it easy! I don't know who you are," he said nervously. "So I don't wanna hurt you…"

Unpleasant images and memories flashed before Henry's eyes, threatening to overwhelm him. He began to feel nauseous, weak and sweaty. His heart rate increased, his stomach felt like there was something rotten inside of it. He began to feel dizzy, almost as if the world were spinning, and his eyesight began to be blurry. A lump was rising in his throat, and he felt as if he would cry or throw up. Lastly a phantom pain between his legs and in his throat returned. No, no, no! This can't be real!

No, get a grip on yourself Henry! It's not happening all over again. This is the here and now, and _you_ are the one pointing the gun, not him. You are the one with the power now, not that thing. After nearly losing control, Henry regained control over himself and banished his demons to the back of his mind once again. Regaining his strength, realizing that he's not the helpless one now, he now felt an overpowering rage. Nothing less than pure hatred flowed through him. He opened his mouth to speak. "Shut up Riley!" Henry snapped. "You know fucking well who I am and what you did to me! You're fortunate I haven't killed you yet. There's no law here for you to hide behind anymore, so I promise you I'd get away with it." He cocked his pistol to prove his point.

The thing's eyes widened at this. "How do you know my name…?" he said with the utmost confusion.

Henry gave a piercing laugh. "Oh don't you fucking play goddamned amnesiac with me you football playing cunt," Henry spat, his hand shaking as he held the gun. "We both remember what happened, and when I think back on that I wonder why I haven't snuffed out your wicked life yet." How many times had Henry imagined just this? The opportunity for glorious, bloody revenge, and able to get away with it? And now here they both were with Henry finally able to act out his desires. Henry wouldn't be content to simply kill that thing. No, no, that thing had to suffer for what he's done. Henry wondered how much time he would have to be able to have fun with the Monster. First he would blow the kneecaps off. He wondered if it would feel satisfying to beat with the thing with his pistol. Oh wait! An even better idea would be to call Peter! Peter would definitely want in on the fun, too.

But no! This was _torture_ and murder! How could Henry do such a thing? But on the other hand, could he live with himself if he allowed Riley to walk away unpunished? Henry was considering pulling the trigger when the ability to do so was taken away from him.

For some reason, the gun was yanked from Henry's hand and tossed to the side. Henry pulled out his other gun when he heard footsteps behind him. He turned around to meet the sight of a boy who looked a bit younger than him. He felt himself drawn in by the boy's deep blue yes. He found it difficult to pull his attention away from those eyes. The boy had light brown hair (almost blond) and creamy fair skin. He was Henry's height and quite well-built for his age. The boy was beautiful, but also handsome and manly-looking at the same time. His expression was one of anger. Henry felt somehow inadequate in comparison.

"Who is this?" Henry spat at Riley. "Your new fuck toy? Listen kid, why don't you run along and let the grown-ups play? I think your mommy's calling you."

"You're not gonna shoot Riley," the boy said in a masculine voice.

Henry gave that same hollow, piercing laugh again. "Are you gonna stop me?"

The boy raised an angry eyebrow. "If I have to," he replied.

Henry didn't know whether to laugh or to throw up. Didn't this boy know what he was defending? Didn't he know what this thing was capable of? If anything, Henry's rage was built up even more at someone acting like _Riley_ needed protecting. He gave that same hollow laugh again. He would _not_ be denied his revenge, not now that it was within his reach. "I'd like to see you try," Henry said, and began stepping towards Riley, wondering what the boy could do against a gunshot.

The boy surprised Henry with how quick he was, but he was too far away. Henry shot him… But then next second gasped in surprise. He had expected the boy to fall down dead, but the bullet had stopped in midair.

"What the FU CK?!" Henry yelled in rage and confusion. The boy did a strange kind of kick where he jumped forward, sliding on the ground, and at the same time kicked his leg up. His foot connected with Henry's hand and the weapon flew out of his reach. He slid forwards again and kicked Henry in the stomach. Henry doubled over and clutched himself. It hurt, but his idea would require that Henry pretend the pain was unbearable.

Clutching his stomach, he stumbled backwards towards where he had dropped his backpack. He made sure that he was within Holly J.'s sniper range. Both Riley and the boy followed him. Henry straightened up. "That hurt you dick," he spat.

The boy raised his eyebrow again. "Then don't try anything again," he replied.

"Why not?" Henry said, reaching behind him into his backpack. He pulled out two cylindrical tubes. "Stopping now doesn't seem like much fun!" He kicked the tubes towards the two muscular males and jumped backwards. There was a loud BANG and a billowing of smoke. Henry smirked in satisfaction. He had been making bombs since he was eleven. He had blown holes in cement with just one of his creation; two would guarantee death for any human. His only regret was that he had killed Riley so quickly.

But when the smoke cleared, he was met with a sight that enraged him. Both males were standing where they had been, perfectly unharmed.

Henry was baffled. How could they have survived that without even a scratch? He pulled a knife out and lunged at the boy he had already come to detest; Riley was now far from his mind. He took a swipe at the boy, but the boy dodged it. Henry used his momentum to follow it up with another slash. Henry was grateful that he'd been taking martial-art classes for months now. However, the boy simply blocked the knife and did an impressive trick with his hands. He disarmed Henry and took Henry's own knife away from him. He brought up his leg and with the flat of his foot, he kicked Henry in the chest, causing Henry to fall backwards and slide back on the smooth concrete floor, out of the office.

The boy and Riley walked towards him, Henry's knife still in the boy's hand, which for some reason he cast to his side. Henry jumped back up. He was more prepared this time. He pulled out his other knife and aimed a fake slash at the boy and then at the last second pivoted and used his momentum to attempt a real slash. However the boy merely blocked this again. He grabbed Max's arm and performed a move where he swung him around and once again took his knife away.

Henry snarled and pulled out his gun. He pressed it right against the boy's forehead and cocked the pistol. "Not so powerful now are you?" Henry sneered in satisfaction, when a cold hard object was pressed into the back of his skull.

"You little shit!" he said to Riley without moving. "Of course you've got guns too!"

That's when Holly J. made her move. She appeared out from behind the crates and aimed her sniper rifle straight at Riley, her open eye staring through the rifle's scope. "Drop the gun!" she yelled.

Riley looked at her in surprise. "Holly J.?" he said.

"Get away from Henry," she demanded quickly. "I swear; I'll shoot you if you shoot him. I'll shoot both of you. I'm not going to listen to Peter bitch about him being gone for the rest of this little adventure. I don't know what you're doing here, or who he is, but I'm going to kill you if you subject me to Peter angsting for the next year."

"I will when he puts his gun down," Riley replied.

"I'll put my gun down when his brains are on the floor," Henry said, referring to the boy before him.

The boy looked directly into Henry's eyes. Henry felt himself getting weaker under his gaze. "This isn't doing any good," he began smoothly. "We could kill each other off, but what good would that do? Or we could put our weapons down and talk this through."

Henry gave that same mirthless laughter. "Talk? To you? To _him_? No, I think I'd much rather see you both dead."

"No I think he's right," Riley said. "I'm really sorry for whatever the Riley you know did to you, but you clearly have me mistaken for someone else. I swear to God I have no idea who you are."

The brown eyed boy stared at the boy in front of him. "You'd live even if I pulled the trigger?" he asked with a sigh.

The other boy nodded.

"Then there's really no point in any of this," Henry said. "You've got some kind of fucking force field or something. You were obviously going easy on me back when we were fighting. I can't kill you; I can't even touch you. If you're protecting that Monster then there's nothing left to say here." He put his gun back in its holsters, picked up the one the boy had ripped from his hand, and picked up both his knives as well. "Come on Holly J., we're leaving."

"Wait!" Riley said. "You're just going to leave; after all that?"

Henry nodded, fighting back tears. "Because I know how those zombies back there got ripped apart," he said. He pointed a finger at the blue eyed boy and continued talking. "You stopped a bullet in midair, you took my gun away from me from across the room; you survived an explosion that would've blown up an elephant. You've got some sort of freaky power I don't, and it would be a waste of time for me to spend any more time attacking you. Like I said, there's nothing more to say here. I'd wish you all luck with the zombies, but you clearly wouldn't need it." He turned back towards the stairs with Holly J. following him.

"He really did all that?" Holly J. asked in awe.

Henry nodded. "I don't know how he did it, but he did." Henry felt humiliated and guilty, holding back angry tears. He had come so close to finally getting closure, and that opportunity was taken away from him as quickly as he had got it. How could that boy pretend that Riley was the innocent one? Oh well, best just to put it out of his mind.

Henry and Holly J. walked in silence for a few minutes until they had reached the room in which they'd first seen the dead zombies. Something was different about it, though; the light had been put out. Glass crunched under Henry's feet as he walked. Something had broken the lighting, obviously. Something that preferred the dark, something that was growling in the corner with rage. "Get back," he whispered. "Get out of here. Hide somewhere down the hall. I'll take care of this and be there in a minute." Once the girl's footsteps had faded from view, Henry shined his gun's flashlights on the corner in which the noises originated. His eyes widened with terror; he'd never seen a zombie like it before. Dressed in jeans and a hoodie, it was tall, as tall as Spinner, and just as built. It had no fingers; where each of them would be was a long, jagged, ominous, blood-drenched claw, and from its mouth hung a long tongue that nearly reached the floor. "What the fuck is that?!" he exclaimed, his fear causing him to forget his cover of silence.

The zombie heard him. It growled in rage and launched itself in a long jump from the corner to the balcony above.

Max grabbed the assault rifle he'd slung across his back and fired at it relentlessly. The zombie cried out in pain but it didn't show any sign of dying. "Fuck, this is bad," he said to himself as he began running down a hallway. The zombie followed and, much to his disappointment, it was even faster than the other infected he'd seen before. His dread only increased when he realized he had gotten himself lost in the building's maze of corridors. No idea where he was or where he was running, Henry continued to flee from the beast, shots ringing out from time to time when he'd gotten enough of a distance between them to shoot at it. No matter how many shots he fired, the beast wouldn't die. It chased him through the hallways making guttural noises of rage that sounded more murderous than anything he'd ever heard before. It wasn't long before the creature had caught up to him. Henry screamed in pain as the zombie pounced on him from behind, knocking him to the floor. Its claws slashed away at his back while he did, and he could feel blood rushing from him as his face met with the cold ground beneath him. Tears of pain filled his eyes. He was stuck; there was nothing he could do to free himself. If he turned over to shoot the creature, it would only grant it access to his chest and the vital organs beneath it. His only option was to lay still and resign himself to his fate. "Fuck," he whispered to himself, "Sorry, Peter. I wasn't fast enough." He closed his eyes and waited for death to come, but instead of the claws, he'd been expecting he felt a weight being lifted off him. He turned over to find the zombie being held in midair by none other than boy he'd tried so hard to kill earlier. He didn't understand why the boy was helping him at all. He'd insulted him and attempted to shoot him, but there he was, suspending the zombie in midair with his mind. Max tried to get up but found himself unable to. The pain from the beast's claws made his mind numb with every move he made. He lied still and watched the scene before him unfold.

The boy let the zombie drop far away from the helpless boy it had just been attacking. Enraged, the zombie growled its horrible, guttural growl and extended its long tongue and wrapped it around the male's neck, but the boy didn't seem at all phased. Instead, he grabbed the zombie's tongue, and with a single tug, the zombie yelped in surprise and was drug forward in reach of the boy's hands. Henry watched in fascination as the boy reached down and grabbed the zombies head and, making sure to avoid the teeth, slammed the zombie's head into the wall. There was a sickening cracking sound and blood adorned the wall. It had only taken him that one move to crush the zombie's entire skull. The boy wiped his hand on his jeans and turned his attention towards the bleeding Henry, running towards Henry. "Are you alright?" he asked with genuine concern as he bent down towards Henry. He looked at the blood on the ground and sucked a sharp intake of breath through his teeth. "You're hurt bad. Let me help you." He bent down to scoop Henry into his arms but Henry fought against him.

"Get away from me," Henry spat, fighting back tears. "I don't need your help." Every movement he took was intense pain, though he seemed to have stopped bleeding for some reason.

The blue-eyed boy sighed and took a deep breath. "Listen to me, I know this is going to sound crazy, but please believe me. Riley was being serious when he said he didn't know who you are. I don't even think we're from your _world_. Me and Riley lay down, and when we woke up, we were in the middle of a street with zombies all around us. So whatever the Riley you know did to you, it has nothing to do with the one I know. So please, let me help you. You're gonna die otherwise." He said all this in as kind and calm a voice as possible.

Henry nodded weakly. It was all he could manage; he had become so weak from the pain and the blood loss. "What's your name?" he asked inaudibly.

"Jake," the boy replied softly. He took off his shirt, exposing a pale, highly toned, smooth muscular body. He began to tear his shirt to shreds so that he could use them as make-shift bandages. "Riley feels really terrible. I tried to tell him that it's not his fault, but he still feels a bit guilty for whatever Your Riley did to you."

Henry weakly said, "Well you're right, he shouldn't feel sorry." He could feel his anger towards Jake's Riley evaporating as if it had never been there.

"What's your name?" Jake asked as he finished wrapping the bandages around Henry.

"Henry," Henry replied weakly.

"Glad to have found you Henry," Jake said with a small smile. Jake scooped Henry into his arms, making sure not to hurt him.

Henry wasn't going to be conscious for much longer. "Was I right?" he asked. "Do you really have mental powers?"

Jake grinned brilliantly. "Spot on," he replied. Henry smiled weakly and passed into unconsciousness, his head coming to rest against the boy's bare, muscular chest.

* * *

><p>"Look, I see someone coming!" Holly J. called. Peter and Spinner, who'd all met up in the factory's entrance once more, turned their eyes in the direction she gestured.<p>

"It's not Henry," Spinner said somberly. "His hair's a different color."

"No, look!" Holly J. exclaimed. "He's got Henry with him!" All three watched as the male approached the three of them.

"He's hurt pretty badly," Jake said once he'd stopped in front of them. "He'll make it, though. Some sort of super-zombie pounced on him."

Peter stared down at his boyfriend with sorrow. "Here, give him to me," he said. Jake gently handed him to the blond, taking caution not to touch his wounds. Once the brunet was in his arms Peter took a seat on the hard ground and held him close, but not tight enough to hurt him. "Henry," he whispered. "Are you okay?"

Henry whimpered weakly in affirmation. "I've been better," he whispered. His brown eyes opened a bit and gazed into Jake's. "Thank you," he said quietly. "I'd be dead if it wasn't for you."

"No, really, thank you," Peter added. "I don't know what I'd do if he hadn't made it back."

Jake stared at the two of them for a moment before it dawned on him. "Are you two together?" he asked.

Peter nodded. "Why? Does that bother you or something?"

A slight laugh escaped from the muscular teen's lips. "No, I've just never seen you with another guy before. I mean, I know you told you were bi, but it's still just a little surprising."

The blond stared at Jake in confusion. "Dude, what are you talking about? I've never met you in my life. How would you know about me liking boys?" Footsteps from behind Jake distracted him for a moment. He glanced past him and saw Riley approaching. His eyes narrowed in hatred at the sight of the football player. "What's he doing here?!" he growled.

"Calm down," Henry whispered, stroking Peter's face. Peter's eyes met with the brunet's for a moment. "That's not the Riley you think it is. Jake, could you tell them what you told me?" He waited for a response, and when the boy nodded, he continued speaking. "What he's going to say is going to sound crazy, but it's true. Go ahead, Jake, when you're ready."

* * *

><p><strong>Jake is actually a character from my first fanfic, <em>The Gift<em>, to anyone who's not read it. Him being in a relationship with Riley is part of my story.**


	4. Wounded Warsong

Everyone was quiet for a few moments after Jake and Riley were through reiterating waking up their universe. Other worlds and psychokinesis were something that went unheard of in their world. No one believed him until Jake proved his ability. He rose up into the air and did a midair backflip and then landed lightly back onto his feet. Spinner was the first to speak afterwards.

"Well this whole day's been pretty weird; I'm just gonna add this to the list," the man said. Peter silently agreed. Zombie apocalypses and now a displaced psychic were quite shocking. Henry had believed Jake before he even began to speak. Holly J. did little to keep the skepticism from her face, but Peter knew that was just her natural response to everything.

"A guy just floated in the air," he said. "How are we supposed to have doubts after that?"

Holly J. rolled her eyes. "Okay so you have mind powers. Big fucking deal. We're wasting time standing here talking about it." The wind whipped her hair long hair as she walked over to Spinner. The very burly man did nothing to resist as she unzipped his jacket and took it off. She threw it towards Jake who caught it. She stepped back to her original place and looked between Peter and Spinner. "Did anyone find a map? Henry was too busy blowing up floors to get the job done."

"With what?" Peter asked in surprise. "Did he bring grenades to school today or something?"

"Some sort of bomb," Jake replied, his hands now zipping up the jacket upon his muscular frame. "It was pretty good for a homemade job. They would've worked on the zombies."

"Just not you, right?" Holly J asked sarcastically, cutting him off before he could say anything else. "That's great. Did you find a map or not?"

Spinner shook his head.

"Great! Then go back in there and find one!"

Riley took a step forward and held up the piece of paper he'd been holding in his hand. He'd dropped it in the chaos of Max's hellbent intents of murder but he'd remembered to reclaim it before he and Jake made their way out of the building. "I have one, actually. Quebec is towards the north of where we are. We're a little north of Toronto, so it's only about 772 kilometers or so from here. There's obviously no traffic," he said, gesturing towards the empty street leading toward the factory, "so we don't have to worry about speed limits. It's almost midnight now, so we have twenty-four hours to go that far. If we stay around 160 kilometers an hour we'll get there with six spare hours."

Everyone stared at Riley in utter shock.

"Did he just do math?!" Holly J. exclaimed. "You're not a moron like our Riley?!"

"I wasn't expecting that," Peter agreed. "So, let's get going. That was your car we saw on the way in I'm guessing?" he asked Jake and Riley.

Jake nodded.

They moved forwards towards the car, but Riley tentatively called their attention. "Um, H-Henry, Peter," he began. He had trouble looking at either one of them. "Um, look, I know Your Riley must've done some bad stuff, so I'm really sorry for whatever Your Riley did. I swear I'm nothing like him. So, I'm sorry…" he trailed off sheepishly.

Henry felt affection for the man that stood before him. He was touched that he would feel bad about this even though it so clearly wasn't his fault. Plus, it was hard to explain but there was just something… Different about Jake's Riley. "Aww, it's okay, Riley," Henry said with complete honesty. He rubbed Riley's shoulder in affection, smiling. "Look I would never hold what My Riley did against you. You're obviously different."

Peter stepped forward as well. It was clear that his initial anger towards Riley had evaporated as well. "Yeah man. I would say you're forgiven, but there's really nothing for you to feel sorry about." He hit Riley lightly on the shoulder.

Riley smiled in appreciation. "Alright, thanks you guys," he replied, obviously much better at ease now. He could actually look Peter and Henry in the eyes now.

"What _did_ Our Riley do to you, Henry?" Holly J. asked. "I know that he made you give him drugs or something, as the whole school talked about it."

Henry's smile faltered. "He blackmailed me. He said he'd go to the police about the drugs. So he made me have sex with him and give him drugs, and-"

"Wait?!" Holly J. said. "He RAPED you?!"

Jake didn't look surprised but he shot a critical look at Holly J. "Holly J., don't-" he began, but Henry cut him off.

"No Jake it's okay," he said, faltering slightly. "Well I wouldn't call it rape. I mean, it was extremely rough, and he made me do it, but I enjoyed it."

"But, Henry," Spinner began softly. "You can still physically enjoy and still be raped…"

"Oh my god!" Peter said in horror. "I never looked at it that way!"

"But whenever I OD'd and almost died he started being nice to me and then I fell in love with him-" Henry began.

"Henry," Jake cut him off, speaking soothingly. "That's called Stockholm Syndrome, not love."

"Oh my god," Henry said with a horrible realization. "He did rape me…" He began to cry softly. Peter held Henry close to him and fondling his hair, he softly kissed the top of his head.

Riley had a mixture of a look between sympathy and anger on his face. Holly J. had a similar expression on her face, as did Spinner and Jake. "That bastard!" Holly J. said. "I always knew he was nasty, but this…"

"If I had known what Jane was sharing a football team with," Spinner began angrily, but regained control over himself. He walked towards Henry, who was still crying and being held tightly by Peter. He rubbed Henry's shoulder gently and said, "Henry, I've had two friends who were raped. They both walked away from it stronger than ever. I know you can get better. Just know that I'm here for you. But Henry, acknowledge what's happened to you. It'll make you feel better if you're able to stand up and claim that you're a survivor."

"I guess I can get help in France once I tell them I'm a rape victim," Henry said weakly as Peter continued to stroke his hair.

Jake stepped forwards as well. "I'm a survivor of some bad stuff, too," he began. "It's a little complicated, but another psychic, a telepath, he did _things_ to me, and now I have PTSD. So I know what you're going through, Henry. But you have to stop thinking of yourself as a victim. No, you're a _survivor_. Not everyone can walk away from an abominable evil like that with their lives intact."

"I almost did kill myself," Henry said. "Riley-I mean-_MY _Riley eventually left me for another boy. When I tried to win him back, he beat me. I nearly killed myself before Peter showed up and rescued me." Peter nodded to confirm this.

Riley opened his mouth to speak but couldn't formulate words at first. Finally he managed to talk normally. He forced hints of anger out of his words. "Henry, I'm so, so sorry for what Your Riley did to you," he began.

"I told you it's okay, Riley," Henry replied, equally as truthful the first time. "I meant what I said when you have nothing to be sorry for."  
>"I know, I know," Riley replied. "But still, I wish there was something I could do to make it up to you. If I ever find this world's 'Riley,' I swear I'll make him pay…"<p>

"I think we all want to make him suffer," Peter said. Holly J. nodded in agreement. They were all surprised at her. Clearly she had been touched as well.

Henry moved out of Peter's caring arms, feeling better now. "You know what? I honestly feel kind of glad now that that's off my chest. I know now that I need to get actual therapy for my problems."  
>Henry motioned for them all to come together. They gave one big group hug, including Holly J. and Riley.<p>

Henry dried his eyes and said, "Okay, let's get going. The zombies aren't going to be impressed with our love-fest."

They all turned towards their individual cars. Henry pulled Riley aside to talk to him for a few seconds. Then they drove off together.

From then on the group was closer. They had become united by a common mixture of emotions: Moral outrage and compassion, things that had bonded normal humans together for millennia.


End file.
